CHAPTER XXX
A MOMENT OF PERIL
“We are done for!” cried Roger, as vociferous yells from various quarters told of the sudden peril that had burst upon them.
The pioneer boys had often, when sitting at the knees of their fathers, heard how the crafty Indians along the Ohio River, wishing to coax the settlers ashore when they drifted down the stream in their shanty boats, would resort to a ruse.
There were white renegades among the natives, men like Simon Girty, who had been chased out of the settlements for wrong-doing, and who, hating their kind, had joined fortunes with the red tribes.
One of these turncoats would disguise himself, and set up a plaintive appeal for help, claiming to be an honest man, who had just escaped from the torture post of the Indians, and begging the newcomers not to forsake him.
In a few instances his appeals would touch the hearts of the whites, so that, even against their good judgment, they were known to work the flatboat near the bank. Of course an attack always followed, the Indians springing up from their places of concealment.
Dick remembered those thrilling stories now, when he and Roger were victims of a ruse along similar lines. That dummy deer had been placed so it could be seen by those in the canoes. The master mind capable of conceiving this trick knew well that the two lads were born hunters, and, in the need of fresh meat for the camp, could hardly resist the temptation.
The game had worked only too well. So cleverly had the dead deer been arranged that even their sharp eyes had failed to detect anything wrong, except that the animal seemed to remain persistently in one spot, and never raised his head.
Almost immediately, flitting forms were seen among the trees. The boys did not stop to count them, but there must certainly have been a full dozen of the enemy.
Two figures they glimpsed that were not copper-colored, and nearly destitute of clothing, as was the case with the Flat Head braves. There was no need to call out and announce their discovery, for both boys realized in a flash that they were once again face to face with the evil genius of their lives, the French trader, François Lascelles, together with his equally unscrupulous ally, Andrew Waller.